rocky horror lips

many people imagine jesus as a really nice man, offering kindly words of hope and reassurance to the poor, the desperate, and the lost. isn't he the guy who preaches love of neighbor, and of enemies? of going the extra mile? of forgiving “seven times seventy”? surely these are the words of a great humanitarian, of a supreme moral teacher. well, sorry pal!

this supposed paragon of moral virtue is an illusion. when you remove the cotton wool from your eyes, you will realize that the stylized character of jesus the lord is a rigid, intolerant authoritarian, spouting a venomous creed, simplistic and cruel. let's begin with one of jesus's most celebrated dictums: love of enemies. as it stands, that idea has always struck me as a most ridiculous precept. at best, it is an extravagant exaggeration of a simple enough principle:

treat your opponents with civility, your enemies with humanity. the greek philosophers were certainly attuned to such notions of moral virtue when dealing with their adversaries, long before similar words were put onto the lips of jesus. but what would “love of enemies” really mean? let's be guided by jesus's own behavior. how does jesus himself deal with his own enemies? throughout the gospels, jesus runs up against those notorious scribes and pharisees,

who, quite reasonably, question his odd teachings and behavior. how does the lord from heaven respond? with love? no, on the contrary, with curses and with threats of eternal damnation. the man famous for his condemnation of hypocrites, is himself a hypocrite. jesus makes abundantly clear that his love of enemies extends only to those enemies who have fallen at his feet in abject submission. he deigns to love them

only because they humble themselves before his absolute lordship. “he that believeth not shall be damned!” says mark. and just as jesus’s so called love is indiscriminate, so too is his retribution towards those who don't immediately bend their knee. jesus threatens destruction and everlasting torment to entire cities for their reticence to immediately embrace him as their new lord and master. or as matthew puts it: “it will be more intolerable for them on the day of judgment

than the land of sodom and gomorrah!” what we have here are the brutal ethics of a pre-modern warlord, poised before a besieged city with his murderous horde. “immediately embrace me as your king and my mercy will allow you to live on as a slave in my kingdom. or else, every last one of you will die a horrible, lingering death!” and this is a jesus, a character presented to young children, as a figure worthy of reverence and worship! but let's move from enemies to those nearest and dearest to us: family.

again we see in the jesus figure that same streak of simplistic intolerance, lacking any normal human compassion. according to matthew, jesus allows divorce, to a man that is, solely on the grounds of his wife’s infidelity. according to mark and luke, not even is that option allowed. any remarriage is an act of adultery. now this is a cruel, simplistic, and wrong ethic. if we were to follow these teachings, as the church in europe did for centuries, married people would almost certainly face a life sentence

of domestic violence, physical and psychological abuse, and sheer misery. today, we recognize the limitations of marriage. we are enlightened. the words placed in the mouth of jesus are the sentiments a primitive, barbarous culture. could we say that jesus is the upholder of strong family values? he does after all preach the brutal doctrine that the person who speaks evil of his father and mother should surely die! but let's get real here. might not some children have perfectly good reasons

for not honoring their parents? from end to end, the moral code of jesus is crass, simplistic, and above all, irrelevant to the 21st century. but then again, at least let's take comfort in the fact that it isn't true, it isn't history. it's just more astounding rubbish from the new testament!

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Posted by #1, Published at 2:18 AM and have 0 comments